


8 Street #writober2020

by YungWenLean



Category: Ginga Eiyuu Densetsu | Legend of the Galactic Heroes
Genre: Gen, Implied/Referenced Rape/Non-con, Post-Canon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-07
Updated: 2020-10-07
Packaged: 2021-03-07 18:34:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,136
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26882233
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/YungWenLean/pseuds/YungWenLean
Summary: Some people are just off to a bad start. Like Elfriede, whose first real relationship was everything but healthy. Will she stop dating abusive powerful men? Will she get to kill anyone? Will she come back for the baby? Will she find a way to deal with her experiences? When Mecklinger invites himself over to the Mittermeyers to talk about art, that day you get your answers.
Comments: 2
Kudos: 7





	8 Street #writober2020

**Author's Note:**

> Yes, this is me doing a #Writober challenge called chanectober. Today's theme was street, and I thought about being street-smart and here we are, a really far-fetched take on a challenge! Rape is mentioned, but not in detail or anything.

– So, Ernest, what brings you here tonight?

The dinner is over and the servant girl is picking up the plates. Evangelin helps her. After all years of living with help, she can only accept them as help, not as a complete replacement of her as a housewife. Now she helps Frieda with the plates while Wolfgang sends Felix off to bed. Felix is told that there will be no goodnight story, but he can stay up as long as he likes if he reads in his room. He seems to be content with that.

– I don’t really know what the right place to start is. But let’s say that I bought a painting for my private collection, from an artist who’s about to have her big break. I think you will find it interesting.

– I’m intrigued. I have learned to appreciate art, Ernest, but you coming here to show a modern piece, it can’t be just to hear my opinion. 

Of course Mecklinger would not come all this way to talk about art with the Mittermeyers. They are kind people, but they have neither the skill nor the interest to appreciate contemporary culture . Ernest has other friends for art soirées, this is a different issue. 

– The artist had mostly worked with performance art before. Rough around the edges, but promising. Very avant garde. A year ago, she was on the news for killing her boyfriend. She claimed it was in self-defence and the court found her not guilty. He was a powerful figure and I think many people were happy to see him dead. Recently, I had the pleasure of visiting a vernissage with some of her new work, mostly sculpture and painting. She was interviewed at the opening, can I show you the recording?

The picture is grainy and the sound muffled. Mecklinger had obviously filmed it with a handheld camera from the audience. Two women are sitting on bar stools in the only light area in the otherwise dark room. Both wear something formless and black. One has a sharp geometrical haircut, dyed red. The other, the artist, has half of her head shaved and the rest is a huge mane of black curly hair. 

**_– ...like you didn’t even want to be discovered?_ **

_ – Well, I have never really been interested in fame. And as an artist, I wanted to explore my style and expression without too much pressure.  _

**_– You found yourself in the public spotlight last year, when you killed your ex-boyfriend, the controversial Louis d’Anconia._ **

_ – In self-defence. _

**_– Yes, of course, we have all seen the recording!_ **

_ – He had cameras all over the house, even the bathroom. I used to hate it but it saved me this time.  _

**_– This wasn’t the first time that you’ve been in an abusive relationship. First time the public heard about you, you were dating Jacques Peletier, who was at the time in control of half of the tobacco smuggling market. He was later found guilty for killing his wife._ **

_ – Poor thing. _

**_– You've been seen with several other men rumored to be successful on the wrong side of the law, and not exactly known for self-restraint. Is that a pattern of yours?_ **

_ – Well, I had a bad start, I guess. My first boyfriend… he was exciting, and he showed me the world, but he was violent, and he raped me. In a sense, this last year helped me to come to terms with that. _

**_– Was he a criminal as well?_ **

_ – Um… Let’s say he had blood on his hands. You know, after leaving him, that was my rock bottom. I was all alone in the world. I had a friend, my only friend. She made sure I had some money. She said, “you’re street-smart, you’ll figure something out”. Street-smart was not even in my vocabulary, you know, but I trusted her. _

**_– As you are saying, I think all of us who have been following your art for a while can see that this last year might have been tragic for you personally, but as an artist, you have really evolved and found your own voice! Let’s talk about the centerpiece, I’ve heard that it’s already been sold?_ **

_ – Yes! I can’t name the price, but I’m overwhelmed, really. Thank you! _

**_– Is it a self portrait?_ **

_ – Of sorts. Obviously, it’s not literal. _

**_– I’ve noticed that Madonna’s eyes have different colours, and yours…_ **

_ – Mine are green.  _

**_– Is there some deeper meaning to it?_ **

_ – I’d say, for me it’s about one eye seeing the past and another the present. This piece is actually based on a performance I did a couple of years ago at this very same gallery. Thank you for having me again! I was standing in wet concrete and slowly sinking deeper, and people from the audience could give me their baby to hold for a picture... _

Mecklinger pauses the video.

– This is the up and coming artist Valerie Kahlo.

Evangelin is pale.

– This is Elfriede, right?

Wolfgang looks focused.

– This is one hundred percent Elfriede.

Mecklinger clears his throat. 

– I discovered her about four years ago. Discovered as an artist, I mean. I have had some time to look into her as a threat to national security, in a discreet way. Her old fake passport was real, she must have had powerful allies. Her backstory checks out, there are files on the people that are listed as her parents. Her supposed home planet suffered from a huge natural disaster that explains that she has no one who remembers her as a child. There have been no signs of her ever mentioning that she knew Reuenthal. She has not worn her hair blonde for at least ten years.

Mecklinger opens a leather folder. In it there is a photograph of a painting of a young woman with a mane of golden hair like a gloria around her face, holding a baby. She looks determined. Peaceful in a way that you look after you’ve made an important decision, but it’s unclear what the woman in the painting has decided. 

– Why is she doing this now?

– My guess would be that she’s been aware that her identity has been discovered. But since nobody has done anything so far, she must have guessed that no one really sees her as a threat anymore, so she doesn’t have to hide as much as she tried when she was younger. I doubt she has any intention to get to know Felix, or to be someone other than Valerie Kahlo.

– So… What do you suggest that we do now?

– Well, personally, I would suggest that you buy her work. It’s a good investment. I was considering this Madonna for the National Gallery of Contemporary Art, but I don’t think it’s such a great idea at the moment. I’ll donate it to their collection in my will. 


End file.
